(Photos provided by AHN)
(WEXFORD, Pa) Allegheny Health Network (AHN) and the greater Pine Township community today are celebrating the birth of the first baby to be born at AHN’s new Wexford Hospital which opened on September 30. Madison and Tyler Dischinger of Mars, Pa welcomed a healthy baby boy, Ford Dischinger, at 6:29 p.m. on Thursday marking an exciting grand opening milestone for the hospital and its state-of-the-art labor and delivery (L&D) program for women and their families who live in the growing northern region of Allegheny County as well as the adjacent communities of Butler, Beaver, Lawrence and Mercer counties.
As the first baby born, Ford will receive one year of free diapers from the Western PA Diaper Bank, a luxury suite for one Pittsburgh Pirates game in September for the first 10 years of his life, a Mario Lemieux autographed mini hockey stick from the Mario Lemieux Foundation and comfort items from Little Moo. Parents delivering at AHN Wexford within the first year will all go home with fully stocked AHN diaper bags, Chick-fil-A gift cards and baby’s very first birthday cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes, among other celebratory gifts.
“Nothing signifies the birth of a new hospital like the welcoming of our first baby into the world,” said Allan Klapper, MD, AHN Wexford president. “At a time when many community hospitals around the country have closed their obstetric programs and many large health systems have consolidated their programs to one or two locations, Highmark Health and AHN have made a choice to expand access to these vital programs for women and families. We knew from the start that AHN Wexford would be our network’s fifth obstetrical hospital, and today, with the birth of baby Ford and the many others who will celebrate their birthdays with us in the years ahead, we see just how important and precious that commitment is to a community and its people.”
The AHN Wexford L&D unit is located on the third floor of the hospital and consists of six L&D rooms, 10 postpartum suites, a private triage area, four Level II neonatal intensive care (NICU) suites, a nursery and two operating rooms designated for patients in labor. The unit’s waiting area also includes an Austin’s Playroom established by the Mario Lemieux Foundation.
The hospital’s large patient rooms are flooded with natural light with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the hospital’s rooftop garden and the Mario Lemieux Foundation Healing Terrace. All suites are private to offer families maximum comfort, security and bonding with baby throughout their stay. Spacious floor plans allow for sleeper couches, plush recliners, birthing beds, bedside fetal monitoring equipment, infant warmers and specialized equipment for infant resuscitation and stabilization.
Patient rooms also include ‘hotel-like’ bathrooms featuring sweeping ceramic tile, walk-in showers and, in certain rooms, grand jacuzzi tubs. Bedside iPads give patients the ability to control their own room temperature, lighting and entertainment with the touch of a button, as well as select their meals from a 24/7 room service menu.
The labor and delivery unit is designed around two central care team stations which are situated to allow for more direct patient access. Centralized fetal monitoring at the care stations provides constant surveillance of mother and baby, so families can rest assured knowing their newest addition is always under careful clinical supervision.
In addition to providing high-risk obstetrical care for moms, AHN Wexford offers four Level II NICU suites for babies in need of heightened care levels. The large, single-bed private rooms allow for parents to stay overnight and in the same room with their baby, even following mom’s discharge, with in-room couches, rocker recliners, refrigeration and bottle warming stations. The AHN Wexford NICU is tied into AHN’s highest level NICU (Level III) located at AHN West Penn for those babies who need an even higher level of care, and is accessible via telemedicine, air or ground transport.
Two dedicated operating rooms are located on the hospital’s third floor and are reserved for cesarean-sections and emergency procedures. Each room offers expansive space for surgical teams, newborns and designated loved ones. Obstetric anesthesia and pain management is also offered 24/7.
“Patient-centered design is evident throughout the entire hospital including the labor & delivery floor at AHN Wexford. The operating rooms feature specialized emerald lighting to promote tranquility and adjacent waiting rooms allow for the expectant mother’s designated loved one to be readily available to enter the O-R following procedure preparation,” said Katie Farah, MD, chief medical officer at AHN Wexford. “From both a patient and caregiver perspective, it’s notable that the entire patient experience from initial triage through labor, delivery and postpartum care – including any required procedures – all takes place on the same floor. The convenience afforded by the space’s design is truly remarkable.”
AHN obstetrician-gynecologists are onsite at the hospital around-the-clock. The AHN clinical team also includes maternal-fetal medicine specialists, neonatologists, obstetric anesthesiologists, nurses and nurse practitioners, physician assistants, lactation consultants, social workers, nutritionists, geneticists and genetic counselors and psychiatrists, among others. Premier Women’s Health, Cypher OBGYN and Northern Regional OB/GYN are the core practices delivering at AHN Wexford.
In addition to advanced pregnancy services at the hospital, patients have access to specialists in OB/GYN, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology, minimally invasive women’s surgery, behavioral health, gynecologic oncology, midlife health as well as comprehensive breast care, onsite diagnostic imaging and women’s fitness classes at the connected AHN Wexford Health + Wellness Pavilion.
“AHN’s commitment to women’s health is comprehensive and addresses every stage of her life. At AHN Wexford and the Wexford Health + Wellness Pavilion, we accomplish that goal by offering a vast array of highly specialized, holistic services,” said Marcia Klein-Patel, MD, PhD, chair of AHN Women’s Institute. “As we open the doors to our latest obstetrics program in the region, we not only celebrate the birthdays of today and tomorrow, but also the latest proof point in our organization’s efforts to transforming women’s and infant care, by making it more innovative, more patient-centered and more readily available closer to home.”
AHN Wexford joins AHN West Penn, AHN Forbes in Monroeville, AHN Jefferson in Jefferson Hills and AHN Saint Vincent in Erie as the network’s obstetrical hospitals. These hospitals welcomed approximately 7,800 babies into the world last year.